PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — About two dozen Prince George, B.C., sawmill workers were in a training session late Monday night when suddenly there was a loud "boom," the floor of the lunchroom they were sitting in erupted underneath them and the walls collapsed.

As the building burned around them, the 24 Lakeland Mills workers fought their way through the smoke, desperate to get out of the building before the power went out or something else exploded.

All but one would make it through the ordeal alive. Shift supervisor Alan Little, 43, of Prince George died of his injuries at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. early Tuesday morning. Six remain in serious but stable condition at the Prince George hospital and four others were airlifted to the intensive care units of hospitals in Vancouver, Victoria and Edmonton. Those who remain in hospital are suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. Thirteen others were treated in Prince George and released, according to the Northern Health Authority.

There were another 25 workers at the planer mill on the same property, which puts a smooth finish on rough boards. None of those workers were injured.

Planer mill worker Justin Francoeur said he was in his plant's lunchroom — in a separate building from the sawmill — when workers there felt what they thought was an earthquake.

They evacuated the building to find the sawmill engulfed in flames.

"Once we got out, we thought, 'Oh man, there's people in there.' Pretty devastating," said Francoeur.

He described the scene as "just confusion."

Workers were coming out of the building and they helped them to a safe zone, he said.

"It was a life-altering day," said United Steelworkers local 1-424 president Frank Everitt, referring to the death of the worker, the injuries and lost jobs. The mill employs about 200 workers.

The explosion at the sawmill, which occurred at about 9:40 p.m. Monday, was powerful enough to shake buildings and rattle windows several kilometres away.

Kerrie Roberts, who lives about a kilometre from the mill on an embankment overlooking the industrial area where the mill is located, felt the shock wave from the explosion hit her house.

"There was a bang, but then very suddenly after there was a huge boom, and then the house shook . . . my windows kind of jiggled and sort of popped in and popped out again."

Roberts jumped up right away at got to her window just in time to see a black mushroom cloud rising up from the industrial site, flecked by sparks that looked like fireflies against the dark cloud. Within seconds, flames at least 30 metres high were shooting into the air, she said.

Mill worker Lorne Hartford, who was not on shift when the mill exploded, said one of his best "buddies" was badly burned.

His friend was sent to hospital in Edmonton.

Another friend who had recently learned to play guitar had his hands burned, he said.

Hartford said he's been told by workers on shift when the sawmill exploded that it was a huge blast.

He said he does not believe that dust from dry pine-beetle killed logs was a factor in the explosion.

"The explosion was way beyond that. More like a bomb. More like something that was charging up — and ready to blow — and cut loose," he said.

He said the workers that are badly injured were those doing maintenance on the saws in the plant, and were not in the lunchroom.

Hartford noted the mill was not heated by natural gas but electricity.

The sawmill portion of the plant was completely destroyed, said Prince George Fire Chief John Lane, who described the explosion as "catastrophic."

The fire burned all through the night, but crews had all but one section of the blaze extinguished by Tuesday afternoon, RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass said.

In Victoria, Minister of Labour Margaret MacDiarmid said Tuesday that WorkSafe B.C. will issue an order telling all B.C. sawmills to conduct immediate safety inspections, and to see if there is anything they can do to mitigate the possible dangers posed by excess sawdust.

MacDiarmid said the inspections will be "look into every one of these mills from top to bottom and make sure that all the safety policies in place now, that they are all being adhered to.

"Although we don't know what caused the initial fires or explosions, we know that sawdust may be a factor."

The president of Sinclar Group Forest Products, which runs the mill, said in a statement on Sinclar's website that the company is "devastated" by news of the incident.

"We will not speculate on the cause of the incident at Lakeland Mills until the proper authorities have completed their investigation," Sinclar president Greg Stewart said. "All of our attention right now is focused on ensuring our employees and their families receive the care they need."

Logging truck driver Bob Weightman said he's worried about the effect on his job and the city's economy.

"I don't know what's going to happen," said Weightman as he observed the burned out mill.

Weightman has been hauling logs into the mill for five years.

Prince George Mayor Shari Green said the destruction of the sawmill is devastating to the Lakeland mill workers, the family who lost a loved one and the community as a whole.

She noted the mill provided important jobs for the community.

Green, who was in Victoria when she heard the news, flew back early Tuesday morning.

"Today the focus is on the family (of the deceased worker)," said Green, adding there will be time for questions about the explosion soon enough.

Premier Christy Clark said she was "shocked and saddened" to hear of the explosion and fire, and that her thoughts were with the families impacted, particularly the family of the deceased worker.

"I want Mayor Shari Green to know that her city has the full support of our government as they persevere through this terrible time."

Liberal provincial representative John Rustad, whose riding just west of Prince George includes Burns Lake, B.C., site of a mill explosion earlier this year, said Tuesday he was "devastated" by the overnight news about the Lakeland mill.

Asked about the possibility of a sawdust explosion, Rustad said that was suspected, though that would also be pure speculation at this point.

Rustad made the comment on arriving at the provincial legislature buildings in Victoria for the daily sitting of the house.

Lakeland Sawmill is located in an industrial area of Prince George near a CN Railway yard, which was not affected by the fire.

Another sawmill explosion and fire three months ago at Babine Forest Products killed two men and injured 19 others.

That sawmill was located in Burns Lake, about 225 kilometres west of Prince George.

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